1 week of Beckett

So here we are one week to the day that Beckett arrived home. In some ways he has advanced beyond where we had expected him to be, while in other ways he has just begun down the long road of removing the deeply embedded experiences of his past.

Today a friend brought back Beckett's jacket. We had to have special opening placed on the back of the jacket so we could clip into the harness. LOL that harness is NOT coming off until we know we can get it back on. I'd say two weeks based on how well he has done in just the one week.

You will note in the video that Beckett does want to go out but his fear of us, keeps him from fully offering up his acceptance. Once he's clipped in, we have a different doggie.

If I had to tally it up, there have been many more gains than setbacks this week. Yes, he still barks at me if I run up the stairway and appear too quickly, he won't allow us to just pet him at any time, it's more a negotiation of ground rules each time, and he still has accidents if we don't time his 'movements'. On the up side, he sleeps where he pleases and it pleases him to sleep in the living room near us, he actually enjoys being outside and seems to be okay with his new jacket to cover where his fur has been cut back to the skin because of the dematting and most of all, he follows us around the house as much as he tries to escape from being in our paths. Damn good for one week! We think so and the letters of support from other WIN families makes us even more firm in our belief that he's going to be a great dog.

As I look over at Darrin snoozing on the sofa and Beckett in a deep sleep on the floor beside him I wonder how long before Beckett will be nestled up there next to Darrin at these times. I may be doing the writing, but it definetly is a family approach to how Beckett gets attention. Darrin and I worried before even hearing about Beckett because we both have different needs from a family dog. I have always enjoyed the training aspects of the dog while Darrin has nurtured the emotional growth of the dogs. With this little guy, it's definetly the nurturing side that is necessary for a spell. I don't doubt that Beckett will be a crackerjack at tricks and be wonderful at leash training... but all in due time. Until we start that, I'll take my cues from Darrin because he has a much better sense of how the dog is feeling. I do too but I think they are very in tune with each other. As you can see in the photo, Darrin hold Beckett with a lot of care. In this case Beckett wasn't really keen on being hugged but Darrin held him until he started to relax and his tense muscles eased.

On Tuesday Beckett goes for his first visit with his new vet. This is his pre-operation visit to be neutered. We thought they would keep him over night but apparently with males it is a one day thing. My Rottie was kept for 3 days because she had complications and they had to have a second surgeon join in. With a world class vet college just up the street, we have resources many other communities just don't get.